NLC

The Pyramid

Qualities of Exposition

Exposition

• Consists of early material providing the theme, establishing the setting, and introducing the major characters

• Think about it this way--
• Historical moment
• Place
• Time
• People/groups/things
• Age
• Activities
• Organizations
• General Ideas

Qualities of Rising Action

• The events of a narrative build towards a point of particular interest. The progress of actions often provides hints to the main conflict the writer wants to address.

Rising Action

The Climax

• The climax is where the conflict of a narrative reaches its highest point.

• In some cases, the conflict reaches a breaking point or a revelation regarding the story's main theme.

Climax

Resolution, or Call-to-Action

• In light of the conflict, the author offers a kind of closure; in plays such as Shakespeare's, this could end in many marriages or a pile of corpses.

• In either case, the conflict prompts an answer, and Malcolm X is explicit in his.

Resolution

Kenneth Burke's Pentad

Overview

Pentad

• Agent
• Act
• Scene
• Agency
• Purpose

Journalistic Questions

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• How
• Why

Agent

• In fiction and nonfiction, the agent is typically identified as characters or actors in a situation or setting. Look for subject nouns.

• Burke gives one example: "The hero (agent) with the help of a friend (co-agent) outwits the villain (counter-agent)..."

• Fun fact: Agents can be non-living, such as chemical agents. They can also be organizations or corporations.L

Act

Act

• Names what takes place, in thought or deed, and is performed by the agent. Look for verbs to describe this.

• It gives an indication as to the purpose or motive.

• For a narrative, the acts performed also clue in readers to a major theme.

Scene

Scene

• The scene serves as the background of an act. That is, it is the situation in which the act occurred.

• In paralleling journalistic questions, the scene is defined by time and place
• Historical time (e.g. 1960s)
• Geography (scope can range from a singular location, dining room to state to galaxy)

Agency

• The means, instrument, or tool for carrying out an act.

• A writer (agent) will write (act) with a pen (agency).

• An actor (agent) may secure work (act) through a talent agency (agency).

Purpose

Purpose

• The purpose gives rise to the reasons for an act.

• Knowing the purpose for an act can provide insight as to what motivates an act, and in critical reading, the purpose allows us to assess why people do what they do, and what they are hoping to achieve.

• "The hero (agent) with the help of a friend (co-agent) outwits the villain (co-agent) by using a file (agency) that enables him to break his bonds (act) in order to escape (purpose) from the room where he has been confined (scene).